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Posh New Capella Hotel Opens in Washington D.C.

Washington D.C. will have a new hotel when the Capella Washington D.C., Georgetown opens its doors this weekend (March 22) in the hip Georgetown neighborhood of the nation's capital. With just 49 rooms, guests can check into the hotel and enjoy amenities like a rooftop pool and bar boasting D.C.-skyline views, plus a restaurant. There is also a dedicated fashion stylist who acts as a concierge (including arranging private after-hours shopping at labels like Christian Dior); she will even have garments and fashion accessories ready upon arrival. Each guest also gets a personal assistant to help arrange anything you'd like while in D.C. Wait, there's more: each guest can have up to five items of laundry pressed at no extra charge. And did we mention the free WiFi?

This is Capella Hotels and Resorts' first US property, while others are in Cabo San Lucas and Ixtapa, Mexico; Dusseldorf, Germany; and Singapore. In fact, the same interior designer at the Dusseldorf property (the Breidenbacher Hof), dreamed up the design scheme at The Capella Washington D.C., Georgetown. Capella Hotels and Resorts' owner—Horst Schulze—is best known for his earlier venture as co-founder of Ritz-Carlton Hotels and Resorts.

Each room will have original modern art and Italian-marble flooring in the bathrooms (the perfect pairing to glass-enclosed rainforest showers and soaking tubs). In-room spa treatments can be arranged to help guests further relax during their stay. The hotel's 24-hour fitness center is on the rooftop, offering stellar views while working out. The Grill Room will offer guests (as well as locals) a new place to nosh for breakfast, lunch, and dinner whether inside or out on the patio overlooking the C & O Canal.

Swedish chef Jakob Esko, who formerly cooked at the Michelin-star Sihlhalde in Zurich, Ulriksdals Wärdshus in Sweden (famous for its spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the world's finest wine collection) and, most recently, Capella Singapore, plans to craft dishes like steak tartare prepared tableside and rockfish grilled on an alder-wood plank with a slow-cooked ginger glaze and orange. Also at The Grill Room: a Champagne cart featuring between eight and 10 labels (including Taittinger's private collection) at any given time. Breakfast means squeezed-to-order juices and a full food menu. At the adjacent Rye Bar, rare rye whiskey is the focus paired with the hotel's "hard harvested ice program" where ice chips are cut from a block and hand-pressed into spheres.

Kristine Hansen is a freelance writer based in Milwaukee where she reports on food, wine, and travel topics around the globe for Fodors.com, along with new-hotel openings. She also writes for Wine Enthusiast, TIME, Whole Living and American Way. In 2006 she co-authored The Complete Idiot's Guide to Coffee and Tea (Alpha Books/Penguin). You can follow her on Twitter @kristineahansen or through her web site.